Help with recipe organizing!

amother

OP ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:03 pm

So what's the best system? How do you sort your recipes?

Where do you keep them? binder, box, etc? My recipe situation is a disaster currently and needs a lot of help.

I have ADHD and need a system that is easy to upkeep and easy to add recipes.
(I don't want digital)

srbmom ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:19 pm

I have an index card box and bought the pack of colored index cards
Each color is a category
Green - salads/dairy
Blue - appetizers/soups/bread
Yellow - sides
Pink - mains
White - desserts

Anything torn from a magazine or printed from online I put into a sheet protector in a binder. I have dividers with similar categories

amother

Phlox

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:19 pm

Since most recipes come from online or are searchable online, I just copy and paste into one document with many many pages. Easily to find on my computer (just ctrl + f to find the word you're looking for) and I also keep a printed copy in a loose-leaf binder so I can access them on YT. If I ever need to make a change to a recipe, easy to edit, if I lose a printed recipe, easy to print that page again.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:24 pm

So I tried a index card box but it didn't seem to work well for me.
I kept misplacing cards. Like I would take the meatball card out and probably move it all around the kitchen while I cooked and searched for ingredients and who knows if I ever put it back or I put it back in the wrong section.
BUT I didn't have it color coded, they were all just random cards. That might work. thank

Amarante

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:28 pm

All my recipes are digital and so I can search them like anything else. Ingredient, method of preparation or I will sometimes add a keyword like a holiday for searching.

I print out in large font on scrap paper and use a magnet to attach to the refrigerator while cooking.

I don’t save paper recipes as it creates clutter and defeats the purpose of having digital recipes. 🤷‍♀️

hodeez

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:28 pm

I screenshot/take pics of everything , have bookmarks on my phone. For chag I either print or write out what I plan on cooking

↑ srbmom ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:29 pm

Quote:

BUT I didn't have it color coded, they were all just random cards. That might work. thank

Yes, sometimes I put them on the counter and find them the next day or somewhere random, but the color coding absolutely helps. And I find that aside for the white it's also much more out of place on my counter, so it's much more noticeable

amother

Chestnut

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:31 pm

I write them out on index cards and put them in a photo album. It works as long as you don't take any cards out Smile

. Any spills are easily wiped off.

amother

Clematis ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 10:38 pm

I started with index cards in box but became mess.

Now I use binders with sheet protectors and dividers
I prefer thin binders.
Over the years I’ve split it up to be more manageable.
For example I have a meat, chicken, fish binder.

I put multiple recipes in a sheet protector when I’m lazy.
It makes it easy to store recipes even if printed, hand written, ripped from a magazine.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 11:25 pm

srbmom wrote:

Quote:

BUT I didn't have it color coded, they were all just random cards. That might work. thank

Do you put them in any specific order within each section? I think that's part of my problem. If I have 30 cards in chicken section it's a pain to sort thru the whole section to find a specific chicken. Alphabetic order? ...

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 11:26 pm

amother Chestnut wrote:

I write them out on index cards and put them in a photo album. It works as long as you don't take any cards out Smile

. Any spills are easily wiped off.

This sounds good. Do you have dividers?
So if you need to keep referring to the card, you just leave the album open and keep checking it I guess.
Also same question as I asked above, how do you sort the cards within each section? Just randomly?

amother

↑ OP

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 11:29 pm

amother Clematis wrote:

What do you mean by sheet protectors? You just dump the cards into a protector? One card per sheet protector? How can you see clearly what you're looking for?

amother

↑ Clematis

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 11:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

What do you mean by sheet protectors? You just dump the cards into a protector? One card per sheet protector? How can you see clearly what you're looking for?

If it’s a printed sheet or ripped from a magazine it goes in a sheet protector.
But often there is a lot of blank space so I might slide in a card onto the same sheet protector. Or a hand written note.
I also use front and back.

I use dividers to split up topics. (I use dividers with pockets so I can stick in recipes to ‘file’ later)

So if If I want to find my chicken recipes. I take out the binder containing chicken recipes. Find the chicken divider. Then flip through sheet protectors to find the chicken recipe I want.

It works for me bec there are no tight constraints. If there are I just give up.

↑ srbmom

Sun, Sep 15 2024, 11:54 pm

Quote:

No! That would be much too tedious
I can look through 30 cards or pages pretty quickly - probably takes 30 seconds to find the recipe I want

Mon, Sep 16 2024, 4:35 am

amother OP wrote:

They make recipe albums that you can put your recipe cards inside. I have one that has dividers that allow you to sort it just like any other cookbook. I like this system way better than keeping them in a box. In a box I couldn’t see my recipes and they were always a mess…

Better Kitchen Products Recipe Binder, 8.5" x 9.5" 3 Ring Binder Organizer Set (with 50 Page Protectors, 100 4" x 6" Recipe Cards & 12 Category Divider Tabs) Vintage Kitchen Design

Knowledge=power

Mon, Sep 16 2024, 12:05 pm

If You'd consider digital, I highly Recommend Recipe Sage. the app syncs between my computer and phone. So easy to upload recipes and find what youre looking for.
BEST PART: ITS FREE!! (though donations are recommended.)